MUBI announced today its January and February release slate of films and curated series from both emerging talent and acclaimed directors from across the globe. These two months, MUBI celebrates the season of Sundance with a selection of titles from past years of America’s premiere indie fest, as well as the upcoming Berlin and Rotterdam film festivals with several of the best entries these two European heavyweights have played host to in recent years – from Nobuhiko Ôbayashi’s Hanagatami to the exclusive online premiere of Sergei Loznitsa’s Victory Day.
Complementing the ongoing series of works by the groundbreaking filmmaker Jean Rouch, MUBI offers the bold global visions of Pierre-Yves Vanderweerd and the “ethnographic fictions” of Laura Huertas Millán, two fellow ethnographers who have brought their own flair and genius to this hugely important documentary practice.
Additional highlights include a fascinating examination of what it means to be an auteur, with film pairings from Alfonso Cuarón, Mathieu Amalric and Kathryn Bigelow, plus two fresh and exclusive offerings in the Special Discovery series – Babis Makridis’ wry social critique Pity and Karim Aïnouz’s affecting documentary Central Airport THF.
Highlights from the January and February line-up are as follows:
Sundance Takeover
In the spirit of Sundance — the ultimate haven of the American indie — MUBI will show a selection of favorite titles from festivals of years past, including Vincent Gallo’s Buffalo 66 (1998) and Debra Granik’s Winter’s Bone (2010).
Buffalo ‘66 — January 25 Winter’s Bone — February 1
But I’m a Cheerleader — January 26 Rize — February 2
Pi — January 27 Little Odessa — February 3
Stevie — January 30
What Is An Auteur? Director Double Features
MUBI’s new series aims to explore the increasingly complicated question of what constitutes an auteur. Arranged in a series of director double bills ranging from the likes of Christian Petzold to Claire Denis, this ongoing program aims to elucidate this nebulous term while also shedding light on some of cinema’s finest masters along the way. In January and February, MUBI will feature the work of Alfonso Cuarón, Mathieu Amalric and Kathryn Bigelow.
Sólo con tu pareja — January 4 Blue Steel — January 20
Y tu mamá también — January 5 The Blue Room — February 23
Near Dark — January 19 Barbara — February 24
Direct from Rotterdam — Exclusive
To celebrate the start of the 48th International Film Festival Rotterdam, which runs from January 23 to February 3, MUBI is presenting exclusive highlights from last year’s program, including the latest gonzo feature by beloved cult director Nobuhiko Ôbayashi (House).
Hanagatami — January 24
Les Unwanted de Europa — January 28
La película infinita – January 31
Special Discovery — Exclusive
As part of the ongoing Special Discovery series, MUBI is proud to present these two exclusive online premieres. Written by Efthimis Filippou (The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer), Pity is a savage Sundance Film Festival competitor with black humor, social critique and wry imagery that exemplifies the best of the “Greek Weird Wave.” Karim Aïnouz’s documentary Central Airport THF explores the iconic, now vacant Berlin Tempelhof Airport, currently being used to shelter refugees. This historically unique portrait of a city within a city won the Amnesty International Film Prize at last year’s Berlinale.
Pity — January 11
Central Airport THF — February 8
The Groundbreaking Ethnography of Jean Rouch
MUBI continues its fitting tribute to cinema’s leading ethnographer – a documentary pioneer who influenced the likes of Werner Herzog and the French New Wave. Over the course of 60 years, Rouch immersed himself in local communities across Africa, creating films in close collaboration with his subjects. His unique, playful form of cinema dissolved all notions of fiction and non-fiction into one frame to irrevocably express the various landscapes, peoples and traditions to the rest of the world. All films are newly restored and digitized in 2K.
Jean Rouch, The Adventurous Filmmaker — January 2
The Lion Hunters — January 3
Jaguar — January 7
Little By Little — January 10
Vandeweerd: Filming the Invisible — Exclusive
Countering MUBI’s spotlighting of the influential documentary films by Jean Rouch comes a new series devoted to the equally bold but otherwise radically different ethnographer, Pierre-Yves Vanderweerd, including the online premiere of his latest feature, The Eternals. Shooting mostly in gorgeous Super 8 and 16mm film, Vanderweerd captures aspects of rarely seen cultures and corners of the world, from Mauritania to the dividing line between the Moroccan army and the Liberation Front of Western Sahara. This Belgian filmmaker approaches documentary not as a tool to deliver facts to the audience, but as a poetic instrument.
Lost Land — January 14
Faraway Roots — January 15
The Eternals — January 21
For the Lost — January 22
Laura Huertas Millán: Double Bill — Exclusive
A double bill by emerging Franco-Colombian artist Laura Huertas Millán brings a third distinctive ethnographic filmmaking approach to MUBI. A fellow at Harvard’s Sensory Ethnography Lab, Millán calls her work “ethnographic fictions” – a distinctive blend of documentary and the fantastical. Just last year, her latest films premiered at Locarno, TIFF, and NYFF and her body of work was celebrated in a retrospective at Mar del Plata.
Black Sun — February 5
La Libertad — February 6
Psychotropic Visions
A double feature of controversial cinema showcasing immersion instead of exposition, the sensorial as opposed to the specific. Directed by contemporary provocateurs Gaspar Noé and Nicolas Winding Refn, this is cinema at its most visceral.
Enter the Void — January 12
Valhalla Rising — January 13
Berlinale Takeover
With the 69th Berlinale opening this February, MUBI will spotlight nine favorites from the prestigious festival’s recent history. The program features the exclusive online premiere of Victory Day, the latest from documentarian Sergei Loznitsa. This acclaimed new film captures the annual celebration at Berlin’s Soviet Memorial commemorating the Red Army’s victory over the Nazis – an incisive look at national pride and shame in modern Europe.
Hotel Dallas — February 7 Brothers of the Night — February 13
Return to Montauk — February 9 Victory Day — February 14 — Exclusive
Yesterday Never Ends — February 11 Queen of Earth — February 16
Boris without Beatrice — February 12